A photo-facsimile of the 764–770 Jishin’in (自心印) text of the Muku jōkō dai daranikyō (無垢淨光大陀羅尼經), plus a replica of the wooden pagoda in which it was enclosed.

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Creator

Hyakumantō darani (百萬塔陀羅尼).

Title

A photo-facsimile of the 764–770 Jishin’in (自心印) text of the Muku jōkō dai daranikyō (無垢淨光大陀羅尼經), plus a replica of the wooden pagoda in which it was enclosed.

Date

Produced by Hōryūji Temple (Nara) in the mid-20th century.

Subject

Gift of Xia Wei and Soren Edgren.

Description

Among the oldest surviving examples of printing, the hyakumantō darani were commissioned by Empress Shōtoku from 764 to 770. The sacred texts were stored within small wooden pagodas, almost certainly placed on altars, that served as East Asian versions of Indian stūpas—monuments to Śākyamuni Buddha. Printed in Japan, this particular text is a Chinese phonetic transliteration of the Great Dhāraṇī Sūtra of Immaculate Pure Light. A million copies were said to have been commissioned, and thousands are still extant at Hōryūji Temple in Nara.

Source

From the collection of Rare Book School